The short version
- £7,500 towards an air source, ground source or water source heat pump.
- £5,000 towards a biomass boiler, rural off-gas-grid properties only.
- £2,500 towards an air-to-air heat pump, residential properties only.
- You no longer need an EPC. That requirement was removed on 28 April 2026.
- The grant is taken off your bill by the installer. You never handle the money.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is the main government grant for replacing a fossil-fuel heating system with a low-carbon one in England and Wales. It is administered by Ofgem, and it has been running since 2022. It has also changed in 2026, which is why a lot of what you will read about it online is now wrong.
How much you can get
| Technology | Grant | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Air source heat pump (air-to-water) | £7,500 | The standard option for most homes. |
| Ground or water source heat pump | £7,500 | Includes shared ground loops. |
| Biomass boiler | £5,000 | Off gas grid, rural location, emissions certificate required. |
| Air-to-air heat pump | £2,500 | Residential properties only. |
Who qualifies
You need to tick all of these:
- You own the property. This includes second homes, buy-to-lets and small business premises.
- The property is in England or Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate schemes.
- You are replacing a fossil-fuel system — oil, gas, electric or LPG.
- The installer is MCS certified for the technology being installed.
You will not qualify if the property is most kinds of new build, if it is social housing, or if it has already received government funding for a heat pump or biomass boiler.
The EPC requirement has gone
This is the change that catches people out. Until April 2026, you needed a valid Energy Performance Certificate, and for much of the scheme's life you also had to have addressed any outstanding loft and cavity wall insulation recommendations on it.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 came into force on 28 April 2026 and removed the EPC as a mandatory requirement. Applications can now be made for properties with no valid EPC at all. Where a valid EPC does exist, its number still has to be provided; where one has expired, those details are provided instead.
This removed a genuine barrier — people were being delayed for months, or excluded outright, over insulation recommendations on a certificate. It does not mean insulation stopped mattering. A heat pump in a draughty, uninsulated house will need to run hotter, which lowers its efficiency and raises your bills. The rule changed; the physics did not.
How the application actually works
You do not apply. Your installer does, and the money never passes through your hands.
- You choose an MCS-certified installer and agree a quote.
- The installer applies to Ofgem for the grant on your behalf and asks you to confirm the application.
- Ofgem issues a voucher. The installation must be commissioned and completed within 120 days of applying, or the grant is lost.
- The grant is deducted from your quoted price. You pay the balance.
Because the grant is redeemed by the installer, the certification of whoever you hire is not a detail — it is the whole mechanism. An installer without MCS certification for that technology cannot get you the money, no matter how good their price looks.
Where ByEco stands right now. Boiler Upgrade Scheme applications can only be submitted by an MCS-certified installer. ByEco is currently going through MCS and TrustMark certification, so we cannot lodge a BUS application for you yet. If you are planning work, talk to us about timing — we will tell you honestly whether we can help on your schedule or whether you are better off going elsewhere.
Do not forget the 0% VAT
Separately from BUS, installing heat pumps, solar panels and battery storage in a home currently attracts 0% VAT rather than the 5% it returns to on 1 April 2027. On a £12,000 installation that is worth around £600.
The relief is due to end on 31 March 2027. Given typical lead times for survey, design and installation, anyone hoping to benefit should be starting the conversation well before then rather than in the last few weeks.
Is it worth it?
A typical air source heat pump installation with ByEco costs around £7,000, so in many cases the £7,500 grant covers the full installation. But the grant only addresses the up-front cost. Whether the system then saves you money depends on how well it is designed and what electricity tariff you are on — and the honest answer is that a poorly designed heat pump on a standard tariff can cost more to run than the gas boiler it replaced.
We have set out the arithmetic, including the cases where it does not work, in heat pump vs gas boiler running costs.
Sources
Every figure on this page was checked against primary sources on 22 August 2026. Grant rules and energy prices change — if you are reading this much later, verify before acting.
- GOV.UK — Apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme: what you can get
- GOV.UK — Boiler Upgrade Scheme: check if you're eligible
- Ofgem — Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)
- The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
Talk it through
Every home is different, and the honest answer to “is this worth it?” depends on your heat demand, your insulation and your tariff. Send us your postcode and we will give you a realistic figure rather than a hopeful one.
